945 Responses to Game Day! Cleveland @ Miami – Game 3

The new video screens are awesome. They have one in each of the corners where they took the nose bleed seats out. Not only bigger and better, but because they are in the shade area they pop at you. Like watching a TV.

I think one of the mote interesting stories of the season so far has been how good the Vikings defense has been

What is really interesting about the Vikings defense and how its built is the emphasis on the back 7
Besides Anthony Barr they have drafted guys like Eric Kendricks, Trae Waynes, Xavier Howard, Mackensie Alexander and Kentrell Brothers over the last few years
Some of them aren’t starting but they still help to build a good overall unit

really deep talented defensive unit there
and helping them get past the QB issue they have had

its going to be hard to keep it up with their QB issues but I think their performance really shows us all something about the NFL

More than one to bake a cake Pig, but might be that the Vikings played the draft real smart by going the route. After the Giants beat the Pats in the Bowl the whole NFL went D-Line crazy (and pass rush more generally). Might be that the Vikes got more talent for the buck/draft pick cause they weren’t as caught up in the frenzy.

Can’t say I am against. And especially since he is so young. He ain’t there Dad’s age, more like an older or young uncle. Still needs to get the players respecting him like he was some coach they saw on TV when they were growing up.

I think you have to treat everyone the same. Young, old whatever. Jenkins was terrible. He should’ve been benched. And whoever is suppose to set the edge on the right side of the line should be benched. I just hate our defense right now.

Funny you say that but LBs have been diminished with all the sub packages. Every team looks at the front 4 first, not sure why some of you guys think the opposite way. I have yet to hear one personnel guy say it starts with LBs and the DBs. The reason is because it doesn’t.

Now that doesn’t mean teams don’t like good LBs, it’s just not where you start. There are very few good coverage LBs in the NFL. Sure it’s great if you have one or two but they’re not easy to find.

We also made mistakes that prevented us from putting the game away. It wasn’t what you would call a good win. But it is a W and now we have to keep working and get better. I see a lot of good things but we’re not consistent and I hope that comes in time sooner than later.

Also I still have hope that Hewitt can develop into a good LB. He always flashes here and there and especially on STs. He had a big hit yesterday. He’s got the ability, he needs to learn the intricacies of the game on defense.

Fans tend to forget that any given Sunday is real and you see a lot of poor games played by teams deemed to be better. I have no idea who is really good right now. The Pats are, after that not sure who will be there at the end.

Did anyone see OV get a late hit that basically cost the Giants the game? We’ve seen that before. 😉

And Darr had a darn fine game. Man has one big leg. His positioning is not nearly as good as Fields, but he can boom it more…..even if closer in what Fields would have at the five or six ends up at the ten or eleven.

And part of that is he gives up height (and the classic Brandon fair catch) for distance and goes the directional kicking route a lot more.

Each individual player has to clean up their game and as a team we will become collectively better. I do see promise. We just don’t string enough good together and play complementary football well enough.

This is Gase’s current challenge at the moment. Staring off better faster and closing out games late. I’m glad he and the team are not overly happy about this win. That’s a good sign.

Defense is still the major flaw of this team, IMO. Outside of Wake, our pass rush is trash. Our run defense is awful and I put the majority of that on our LBs. Can’t shed blocks, bad run fits, slow to close, hesitant at times, can’t cover, instincts aren’t there. That’s the major flaw right now. Maxwell SUCKS. He is coasting out there anytime he’s off ball or in zone. At least he defended a few balls… Howard didn’t stick out, which is a good thing, I guess. Jones is a total stud. He’s the type of player Miami needs to reward and focus on. Build around your Landrys, Jones, Wakes. Just about everyone else is expendable.

Just not seeing much to build on right now. There are a few bright spots, but overall we lack the kind of players that make up a winning team. Maybe we have the coach to get us there? We’ll see, I guess. I have little faith in our GM.

But mediocre was what we were all along. Was only going against crappy. High-side on this team is a wild card squeak in there. Low side is crash and burn. Seems only thing we have learned so far is that something magical is not going on….in the first three games at least.

i didn’t think we were going to be really good this year so mediocre might be it with the hope of somehow making the playoffs. They have a lot of work to do but I do think we have talent. We’re not a good team right now. They can get better. I really believe that.

I’m really surprised at JAX. I thought they were ready to make some noise, a legit contender, and there they are at 0-3. Hung in with the Pack but lost 27-23. Blown out by SD 38-14, and then a close loss against the Ravens 19-17.

They now have “yellow passes” (which are just pre-paid cash lot pays in the same lots) going for $20 on stubhub. With fees that brings you to like high twenties or something…..you’ll still be doing the same walk from the cash lot but will save some.

You can also get an orange pass (inside stadium fence sections), but the lowest of those is going for $40……so add on ten bucks Less walk though to the tailgate though..

The more they play to his strengths the better he plays. It is somewhat limiting that he cant play a pure man coverage or pure zone, but he is capable when playing the scheme that i thought was what Joseph intended from the get go.

Our DL is very good, so is the DE unit. We get pressure just with the four, but they need short pass coverage help. We arent getting help from LB’s and we arent getting help from CB’s because of scheme.

We cant still bounce back, and i agree with Tim on one thing, we just arent as good as people hoped.

I like our RB’s. We may not have a Fournette in the group, but they are decent. I dont like the level of rotating we did last game, but maybe it was testing the waters before delegating more share moving forward.

I like the core of our WR’s. I dont think Stills in particular is a dynamic we cant get from plenty of other receivers, maybe even guys currently on our staff like Caroo. I wouldnt make him a priority resign. Parker and Landry are our core and we should hold on to them. I want to see what Hunter might be able to do for us, but if there isnt much there we can easily move on.

OL unit is looking fairly good. Promising. I hope it stays together and we dont lose a significant piece to injury. Steen was operating the OC position well, hopefully his injury isnt serious and he will be back, Pouncey coming back will really help us.

TE’s, we dont have a standout, but we have two decent guys. We can improve this unit and id suggest either getting Cameron back for a decent amount less money of letting him walk and getting an upgrade.

QB i think i get frustrated with because he looks so promising one second and then just awful the next and he still hasnt learned a few things that are core to being great, some may bemoan the complaints and say well set your expectations lower, he doesn’t have to be great for us to win. I differ with this opinion and suggest we must continue to search for great because great comes with consistency that we desperately need, and great comes with a guy who can help elevate the tam and not have to have a whole team of great players elevate him. We may need to at least look to draft a player early mid draft this year, but mid at the latest.

On defense we seem to have a nice core of DT’s and DE’s. They arent the youngest group, but they are solid players. Our safeties are also pretty solid. I think we could improve on Isa but he is good enough paired with Jones to be a difference maker. Very much a back burner position for upgrade though, only if we had the right player at the right price fall to us would i even consider it.

CB’s, i keep floating between horrible and decent. Maxwell at times looks great and it really depends on our scheme, Howard at least with an early evaluation is similar, both get burner on pure man coverage, and neither have shown good recognition and closing speed when in pure zone. I think we could really use adding another really strong player to round out the group, ie draft high at CB and competition kicks the loser out of the outside role to the nickle role.

LB’s oh sweet LB’s, we need 2 starting caliber players. I really only see one guy who would be worth dropping serious money on in FA, and that would be Jamie Collins. Double whammy of stealing from the Pats, and he is about as good as they come at LB. I think we have to re-sign at least one of the two, Jenkins or Alonzo, i think Jenkins provides the most upside. We would then need to draft one, two if the pipe dream of getting Collins falls through. Might mean having to double up, 1st and second pick on LB’s or stringing together some picks and going 1 CB, 2LB, 2aLB. LB depth is pretty good so we could probably pull off 2 starters from the 2nd round.

This is also a loose evaluation, we have miles left to walk, injuries left to suffer, and mid season wake ups to get to, but for now this is how i feel about the players we currently have.

They didn’t have a 5th RD pick, and yes, I’m aware that Jack was a pick for the future, but still, they placed a strong emphasis on defense, and definitely had some nice offensive pieces in place with Bortles, Robinson and Hurns, TE Julius Thomas and a pretty good stable of RB’s with TJ. Yeldon, Chris Ivory and Denard Robinson.

Wide 9, really really dependant on the ability of the MLB and his football intelligence. I dont think Alonzo is that guy, he doesnt seem to read the plays well, and he doesnt seem to know his assignments well.

Mike Jags are 8th in the league in yards given up per game, we are 29th.They are 9th in yards per play, we are 17th. They are 16th in 1st downs gained, we are 27th. They are worse than us in points per game, but given we have given up more yards per game, it means they have been losing the field position war, so partially ST fail. You would also have to look at how much they have improved or not improved from last year to know for sure. Not saying drafting D in first 3 is the right way to go, but emphasis on D does pay off if thats the side of the ball you are worst at.

It’s kind of skewed, because NE put a ton of yards and points on us, the SEA we were much better, and we were bad, just not as bad against the Browns, but I thought we should have been a lot better against the Browns, which is why I was disappointed.

MikeE
I noticed that you guys are in town. Hearts are going to be heavy tonight, even on your side I’m sure… But we might as well just mail this one in for I dont think anyone feels like playing now.
I wish you could have seen our broadcasts cause Jose was always the life of the party down there in the dugout even when he wasnt pitching. This jus isnt going to be right.
LIFE OF THE TEAM #16 😦

It’s awful that this team actually has to go back to work right now. I would expect it to be very somber, but maybe if they get something positive in the game going, it will be therapeutic, and they will do it for Jose. It could go either way.

MikeE
I just heard on the Orlando news that tonight’s game is cancelled.
ARENT YOU GUYS STILL IN PLAYOFF CONTENTION? they cancelled yesterday agaist the braves but that certainly wont have to be made up.
I’ll be on the FSF to see if Marlins live is still on at 6:30

Game is on MikeE
Orlando news dont know shit! around here its all Arlnold Palmer… Sorry to here that but the man was 87!
Marlins live is very sad and I am crying.
SUCH A FINE YOUNG MAN, LIFE OF THE MARLINS #16

Tim, it seems like Gase is going to shake it up some as he tries to figure out the right formula for this team. I like it rather than sitting on his hands and hoping it changes. It seems he is, as a natural leader, filling a void of leadership this team has had for some time.

I don’t see anything mentioning that tonight’s game is cancelled. I can’t imagine they won’t play, they can’t cancel the rest of the season for them, they’re going to have slog through it, as difficult as it probably will be.

Of course I’m glad we got the win, it’s “how” we got it that makes me mad. We have to play better. Mike Francesa just brought it up as I was driving home that if the Parkey didn’t miss 3 FG’s 3 makeable FG’s, there would be big time turmoil in MIA. What else is new?

This José Fernández thing is heart breaking. I remember watching the kid pitch in high school. I went with a friend to watch her nephew pitch and just so happened it was against Jose. As most of you know i was involved in youth baseball and watching him pitch he was unlike anything i saw in 12 years of youth baseball. But with or without baseball talent it is just a sad thing when those that young are taken early. I mean when there are people like himary and trump that could be taken first why not spare the youth.